Some sports require the participants to pivot in position on one foot. Basketball is an example of a sport in which during the play of the game the players frequently pivot on a planted foot while stepping with the other foot either forwardly or rearwardly It is known to construct an athletic shoe which includes a pivot pad on the bottom of a shoe below the ball region of the user's foot, to facilitate pivotal movement while the user's weight is being applied to the shoe through the ball region of his foot An example of a shoe constructed in this manner is disclosed by German Patent Publication No. 2,458,576, published June 16, 1976.
It is also known to provide an athletic shoe with circular cleats for facilitating pivotal movement while the user's weight is applied to his shoe through the ball region of his foot Examples of a shoe of this type which are present in the patent literature are shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,510, granted Nov. 5, 1985, to Jerry D. Stubblefield; by U.S. Pat. No. Des. 287,784, granted Jan. 20, 1987 to James K. Tong and Bruce MacGregor; by U.S. Pat. No. Des. 375,146, granted Aug. 21, 1984, to Bruce J Kilgore; and by French Pat. No. 2,457,652, granted Dec. 26, 1980.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an athletic shoe having a nested plurality of pivot pads on the bottom of the shoe positioned for facilitating pivotal movement on the foot while the user's weight is applied to his shoe at locations other than the ball region of his foot, in addition to when the weight is applied to the shoe at the ball region of the foot.